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Is fur a ‘green’ option?

Many of the terms commonly employed by the fur industry are neither well defined nor regulated under the law. Canada’s Competition Act does not specifically restrict the use of terms like “environmentally friendly”.

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Desperate times: fur industry hopes to sell seal penises

06/08/2015 - 08:46

When the demand for a product diminishes, a business can either create new demand or move on to another product. The fur industry, it seems, is looking to blow life back into a diminishing demand for a particular product to try and save the failing seal hunt: penises.

That’s right. They want to market and sell the penises of grey seals as sexual enhancement products to Asian markets.

According to CTV News, documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act indicate that the Fur Institute of Canada, which is continuously seeking ways to receive funding or promote the slaughter of seals in Eastern Canada, believes the market could be profitable.

At one time, an individual seal penis could fetch up to $650, CTV noted. But the inherent act of removing the penis from juvenile and adult males was deemed unacceptable by Canadians in the 1990s (coinciding with the marketing of Viagra) and the practice was stopped.

It’s important to understand that this proposal wouldn’t just open a market. It would require $9M to implement the plan, CTV reported, assuming buyers could be found to pay up to $4M in the first year. Effectively, the FIC is asking for a $9M taxpayer subsidy to sell a product, which Canadians and most Europeans believe is inherently inhumane, to Asian markets.

Friend of The Fur-Bearers and spokesperson for The International Fund for Animal Welfare Sheryl Fink had some choice words for CTV.

“It is an outrageous sign of desperation that our government is now considering wasting ... tax dollars to peddle seal penis potions as aphrodisiacs," she said in an interview. “Surely this money could be better used to directly benefit fishermen and rural communities in Atlantic Canada.”

The Fur-Bearers couldn’t agree more.

Become a member of The Fur-Bearers today – the official opposition to Canada’s fur trade – and help us speak up for the animals and bring these barbaric practices to an end.

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